Text: Sarah Perrin The deep scattering layer is made up of millions of small fish and zooplankton. It is so dense that it’s sometimes referred to as the ‘false bottom’ of the ocean. This layer exists in all the world’s oceans at a depth of a few hundred meters. Researchers on the ACE expedition are…

Text: Sarah Perrin On Saturday night, the ACE expedition arrived at Bouvet Island, a 50 km2 volcanic island that belongs to Norway. This stopover is special in many ways, as Bouvet is known to be the most remote island and one of the wildest and most inaccessible places on Earth. L’expédition ACE a atteint Bouvet…

Text: Sarah Perrin The chemical makeup of ice can tell us a lot about our climate’s past and the recent impact of global warming. A team of researchers on board the Akademik Treshnikov is taking as many ice samples as possible on the islands they visit and on the continent itself. Lire dans la glace…

Text: Sarah Perrin Little is known about the role of aerosols in climate mechanics. Julia Schmale, an ACE researcher, has been testing for these particles all around Antarctica, where their interactions have not yet been affected by human activities. It may seem unlikely, but the air around us is far from empty. It carries millions…

Text: Sarah Perrin As soon as the ship left Bouvet Island on Monday evening, the mood on board changed. Even though Cape Town is still several days of sailing away, the researchers are already thinking about what comes next. They’re asking each other how long they plan to stay in South Africa before returning home,…

Text and photos: Sarah Perrin Bob Brett and Tango Charlie go way back. They were reunited on the ACE, but they first met long before that. “It was 18 years ago,” said Bob, a 58-year-old Englishman with a distinguished moustache. From where he’s sitting on wood crates in the ship’s hangar, the seasoned pilot beckons…

What role does the phytoplankton in the Antarctic Ocean play in the region’s climate processes? That’s what a study carried out during the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) aimed to find out, by coupling satellite data with optical and chemical seawater analyses. Les couleurs des microalgues en disent long sur le climat Quel rôle le phytoplancton…

Press release/Communiqué de presse The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) reached Cape Town on Sunday, 19 March, completing its three-month voyage around the great white continent. But the scientific adventure has only just begun: it’s now time to analyze all the data that was collected. This will improve our understanding of the effects of global warming…